Shannon Watts: NRA Members Aren’t “Caring Americans”

National Rifle Association members will likely be saddened—but probably not surprised—that an outspoken gun-ban zealot basically called each and every one of them uncaring on national television over the weekend.

“Make no mistake, there is a life or death battle for gun safety going on in this country,” Shannon Watts, head of Bloomberg’s demanding Moms, told MSNBC. “It is caring Americans versus the gun lobby, and the gun lobby has a 30-year head start.”

Of course, the “gun lobby” is Watts’ code words for the 5 million law-abiding NRA members throughout the country, from teachers to preachers, lawyers to brick layers, truck drivers to advertising executives and everything in between.

While NRA members have grown accustomed to Watts’ cavalier crudeness toward the law-abiding Americans who choose to be members of the Association to protect their rights, her most recent characterization of members as basically monsters who care nothing about criminal violence victims should destroy what little bit of credibility she has left.

Gov. Christie Commutes Marine War Vet’s Gun Sentence

Hishahi Pompey was a proud U.S. Marine who served three tours in Afghanistan. In 2011, he was visiting friends in New Jersey from his home in Virginia when they stopped by a nightclub. There, a friend of the uniformed, active-duty sergeant pulled Pompey’s gun from his holster—and Pompey and his friend were promptly arrested.

Pompey was ultimately charged and convicted of felony possession of an unlawful firearm, as he didn’t have a license to carry in New Jersey. And like a long list of gun owners before him, he found himself ensnared in the tentacles of the Garden State’s restrictive gun-ban schemes that don’t recognize permits from any other state.

Sentenced to five years in prison, Pompey was scheduled to begin his term on Monday. But on Friday, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie commuted the veteran Marine’s sentence. It remains to be seen whether Christie will also pardon Pompey, as he has done with other innocent victims like Shaneen Allen and Brian Fletcher.

Montana Governor Vetoes Restaurant Carry Measure

Democrat Montana Gov. Steve Bullock late last week gutted a restaurant carry measure that would have restored the right of law-abiding Montanans to protect themselves when going out to eat.

Bullock returned House Bill 494 to the Montana Legislature with an amendatory veto. His proposed amendment would only allow Montanans to carry a concealed firearm for self-defense while patronizing a restaurant where alcohol is not served—a meaningless gesture, since it is already legal to carry a concealed firearm in a restaurant that does not serve alcohol.

The original measure, as passed by the legislature, would have allowed law-abiding Montanans to carry a firearm for self-defense while patronizing a restaurant where alcohol is not the primary item of sale. Yet Bullock apparently believes that the right to self-defense should be unnecessarily banned due to the presence of a product that is legally sold in an establishment that is licensed to sell it.

Washington Homeowner Fatally Shoots Charging Home Invader

Early Saturday morning, a man who was awakened at 3 a.m. by noises on the front porch of his home went to check on the ruckus. Fortunately, he also took his firearm.

Tacoma’s News Tribune is reporting that when the 44-year-old homeowner investigated, he yelled to a potential intruder that he was inside the residence. However, it didn’t stop a male suspect from suddenly bursting through the door.

Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer told reporters that, after the invader got inside, he “had a physical confrontation with the homeowner, who was armed. The homeowner fired one round, striking the suspected burglar and killing him.” A 32-year-old woman and a 3-year-old girl were also in the residence, but the child slept through the incident.